Woman's Death on NYC Subway Tracks is Third in Month

New York City tallied its third subway-related fatality in less than a month when an intoxicated woman stumbled around a Manhattan subway platform on New Year's Day and then climbed onto the tracks where she was hit by an oncoming train.

The incident occurred about 5 a.m. at a Penn Station platform, eight blocks from Times Square where a few hours earlier hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered to celebrate the coming of a new year.

The woman in her mid-20s used a flight of service stairs to gain access to the tracks, where she proceeded to lie down near the mouth of the tunnel before the train entered the station and hit her, according to the New York Daily News.

Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene, but were unable to save the woman's life. Her identity has yet to be released by police.

Erika Menendez, 31, admitted shoving the immigrant from India onto the tracks because she believed Sen to be Muslim or Hindu.

According to the district attorney's office, Mendez told the police, "I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I've been beating them up."

On Dec. 3, another subway pushing incident received international attention when Ki Suk Han, 58, of Queens, was pushed to his death in a Manhattan subway during an altercation with Naeem Davis, 30, a homeless drifter.

Davis later claimed he was defending himself and had repeatedly asked Han to leave him alone as the two argued. Han's wife told reporters that she and her husband had a fight in the morning before Han's death. She said he was likely intoxicated, and police reportedly found a bottle of liquor in Han's pocket.

Davis has been charged with depraved indifference murder and attempted murder.

Many subway-related deaths consist of suicides committed by jumping in front of an oncoming train. Between 1990 and 2003, 343 subway-related suicides have been registered, although exact numbers aren't known because the cause of death is listed as "unknown" when no witnesses are present and no suicide note is found.

New York City tallied its third subway-related fatality in less than a month when an intoxicated woman stumbled around a Manhattan subway platform on New Year's Day and then climbed onto the tracks where she was hit by an oncoming train.